MARE
"And that's it? " Farley asks while trying to burp the baby half-dozing on her shoulder. "You walked away? He didn't do anything?"
"Well, frankly speaking," I say, "I think the last time he tried doing anything has made him wary. " Farley hands Clara over to me, reaching for the empty feeding bottle. She tosses it onto the pile of new baby clothes the large blue basket choked full of. I look away. Back at the Stilts, the whole community shared the same set of gender neutral clothes whenever a baby was born, passed down from sister to friend to aunt to daughter until they were so tattered it was impossible to use them. Shade's kid getting a brand new, extremely ...Silver-like wadrobe all for herself...
Maybe I am overreacting, but it felt wrong.
"I know."
I snap my head up, wondering if I'd said all that out loud. Farley looks at me, and continues. "I know all this-" she gestures around the room, littered with baby products I didn't know existed and clothes that had spilled out of the hamper, "-is not your average Red lifestyle, heck-" she laughs shakily, "-Shade would probably have had a seizure seeing all these clothes. But you know, " she sobered up, "We are fighting for this right? 'Equality for all' and all that? Yeah, I know you don't believe that can happen, " I promptly shut my mouth, as I was about to say exactly that, "But I want to believe it can." Her eyes soften. "Claire is what I am fighting for the most. A better future for Reds. A better future for her. "
Farley's words follow me out the door.
I don't really buy into this whole democracy - Red and Silver living side by side, choosing their leader independently - thing Farley is dreaming of, but that's not my headache. I only know this: I've lost Shade. No way in hell am I losing Claire too. I'll protect her with my life, and if that's the last thing I do, so be it.
...
"...And that's where Maven's forces will be easiest to corner."
I jab Kilorn in the ribs; the painful pleasantries between the Rift Royalty and Davidson had caused him to doze off, standing. Now that the real talk is finally starting, he'd better listen.
Farley turns to the screen, where the picture of a beach side castle is being projected. "The King and Queen are planning to spend their honeymoon here, if for nothing else than to show how little they're bothered by the attacks. "
My mind wanders. King and Queen. Maven, and... Iris. Last I saw her, it was her wedding day. We'd gotten along fine - freakishly so - though the same can't be said for House Samos. She'd liberally and quite politely, gotten on their nerves. That had kinda been what made me like her.
After her father got killed in the ensuing chaos though...
An idea formulates in my mind, a crazy, probably psychotic idea I need to run through Julian.
If only this meeting finishes, now.
...
An hour and a half later, I've already spoken to Farley, who's dubbed my plan "crazy enough to work", and Julian, who warns me to "not trust anyone, because they're all still viewing you as a threat, and will love to kill you,"
What else is new?
...
Hi ya'll! Sorry if I convinced you I've abandoned this fic. I'm gonna keep updating - however sparingly - right up till the day War Storm comes out.
I know I've been absent for aaaages, but I caught the Riordan fever and have spent the last multiple weeks catching up. I finished Trials Of Apollo : The Dark Phrophecy yesterday, and am taking a break before starting on Magnus Chase and The Ship Of The Dead
Short chapter I know, but I wanted to do the upcoming battle in a different chapter. Fret not, I'll update soon... ish. Ciao!
